In December 2013 EUCIS-LLL held in the European Parliament its Lifelong Learning Week, gathering various educational stakeholders around key moments of reflection of the European agenda in education and training. One of them was the roundtable “Making the case for European civic education” on 4 December, jointly organised with the European Civic Forum. More than ever we need to create a dialogue about Europe in our schools, associations and in public spaces. It is about the common values of Europe such as tolerance, human rights and democracy that are linked to issues such as xenophobia, racism and gender equality. The role of educational institutions and civil society in that sense were discussed during the event, from which you can find the full report on our website. More reports from the LLL Week coming soon!

From 17 to 21 February the UNESCO will hold its flagship Mobile Learning Week, which focuses on how mobile phones can improve access to education material in the poorest areas of the globe. This year, the emphasis will be put on teachers as the pillars of our education systems and key actors in the digital revolution to promote inclusive and better learning everywhere. Several key challenges and opportunities will be discussed, such as ensuring equity of devices, online safety, limited mobile-friendly content and the need for teacher training. As UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova puts it “On its own, technology is not enough. Empowerment comes from skills and opportunities to use them. It comes from quality content that is inclusive, that draws on local languages and knowledge systems”. See also EUCIS-LLL position paper on Opening Up Education.

On 24 January the European Parliament Committee for Culture and Education gave an input on the EU citizenship report 2013 for the Committee on Petitions. The opinion, drafted by MEP Morten Løkkegaard (ALDE, DK), supports the Commission’s initiative to raise citizens’ awareness on their rights and reminds how crucial it is to increase their participation in EU democratic life. It also recalls the importance of creating a “structured framework for European civil dialogue” as a means to concretise participatory citizenship and underlines the role of organised civil society in that sense, calling for less administrative burden and adequate funding for them.

On 6-7 February the European Commission and the Greek presidency of the European Council held a conference to launch the European Social Fund 2014-2020. New investment priorities under the various cohesion policy thematic objectives such as “Investing in education, training and vocational training for skills and lifelong learning” (see Common Provisions Regulation) were discussed but also new levers for actions. Education was indeed one of the key areas for reform mentioned by Commissioner László ANDOR while opening the conference. The European Code of Conduct on Partnership (see Regulation and best practices), recently adopted and involving key stakeholders in the design, implementation and evaluation of the new structural funds, will also be debated. The Commission has for the occasion developed a thematic paper on Good Governance where the involvement of civil society is enhanced as a key success factor for an effective ESF intervention.

“Key to Europe” is the European Students’ Forum (AEGEE) Annual Review. Discover the 2012-2013 edition that summarises all the actions that AEGEE has undertaken in the past year in the field of personal development, inclusion of minority or youth participation. You can notably find out more about AEGEE’s 2014 campaign “Y vote” to tackle the challenge of low turnout among young Europeans during the European elections next May that includes local activities, bus tours, etc.

By Charles Fadel Founder and Chairman, Center for Curriculum Redesign. Why are mathematics taught? 
From Aristotle, Plato, Al-Khawarizmi, and Al-Kindi, to John Allen Paulos (Temple U.), Paul Ernest, (U. of Exeter), and Eleanor Robson (U. of Oxford), maths thinkers have stated three types of reasons: emotional, cognitive and practical.
Setting aside the emotional and cognitive reasons, let’s discuss the implications of the practical reasons. Mathematical understanding is crucial for high performance in our personal, public, and work lives. More...

The Erasmus Student Network conducted a short survey on the preferences of its students and members concerning the name of the new EU programme on Education, Training, Youth and Sport. The original proposal of the European Commission stipulates “Erasmus for All” as the name for the follow-up of the Lifelong Learning Programme. The European Parliament favours “YES Europe” as the name for the new programme envisaged to start in 2014.
ESN has asked students directly whether they prefer “Erasmus for All”, “YES Europe” or have no preference/opinion. Out of the 3034 responding individuals, 69.5% prefer “Erasmus for All”, 24.9% prefer “YES Europe” and the remaining 5.5% indicated no preference or opinion on the name. An overview broken down by country and a more graphic illustration can be found here. 
Analysis Survey New Programme.pdf. More...

The European Students Forum (AEGEE-Europe), with the support of its partners - the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) and Generation Europe Foundation (GEF) – organised a conference to launch the new EU funded project under the Lifelong Learning Programme: Erasmus Voting Assessment. The event, hosted by the Parliament’s Intergroup on Youth Issues, gathered several important stakeholders. Doris Pack, Member of the European Parliament, Chair of the CULT Committee and Rapporteur of the European Parliament for Erasmus+ opened the conference, giving valuable input and stressing the importance of exploring the influence of the Erasmus programme on EUcitizenship. The Erasmus Voting Assessment survey has been launched! Visit our website to fill in the survey: www.erasmusvoting.eu. More...

The strengthening of institutional and organisational capacities will be crucial to achieve the literacy and adult education goals of the Strategic Plan of the Education Sector 2012–2016 in Mozambique. The UNESCO Capacity for EFA Programme Mozambique therefore includes a training component to equip staff members of the Directorate of Literacy and Adult Education (DINAEA) at central and provincial levels with improved management capacities. More...

The International Language Association (ICC) is holding on 26-27 April its Annual Conference on “Language, learning and the brain” in Mainz, Germany.The event will mainly focus on lessons learned from neurosciences and neurolinguistics for language learning and teaching, while the 2012 Commission’s Communication on “Rethinking Education” has shed a new light on the importance of language learning across the EU. The Conference will also allow for many networking opportunities through various interactive workshops and a marketplace. See the draft programme and register here!